Gaspar Polanco

Gaspar Polanco (1816-28 November 1867) was President of the Dominican Republic from 10 October 1864 to 24 January 1865, succeeding Jose Antonio Salcedo and preceding Benigno Filomeno de Rojas.

Biography
Gaspar Polanco was born in Monte Cristi, Captaincy General of Santo Domingo in 1816, the brother of Juan Antonio Polanco, and he served as a colonel in the Dominican War of Independence during the 1840s. In July 1857, he took part in a revolution against the corrupt President Buenaventura Baez, and he became a Brigadier-General in the army. During the Dominican Restoration War, Polanco became a leading insurgent general, and he became commander-in-chief of the restorative forces during the war. On 6 September 1863, he captured and burned the city of Santiago, depriving the Spanish Army of a major base. He went on to overthrow President Jose Antonio Salcedo due to his support for the return of Baez to power, and Polanco assumed the interim presidency from October 1864 to January 1865. However, his attempt to monopolize tobacco with his friends led to his own brother Juan Antonio and several other generals ousting him from power in January 1865. In 1867, while defending Jose Maria Cabral's government against a rebellion, he was mortally wounded and died of tetanus.